32 Surprising Things That Ruin Your Skin

Your post-pool regimen is vital when it comes to your skin. Even after a shower, chlorine can cling to skin and react with topical medications, cleansers, and even lotions. To effectively remove chlorine, always use an extra sudsy soap after you take a dip.

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Sleeping With Your Makeup On

Falling asleep with your makeup on can lead to bacterial infections and clogged pores, which can cause acne. And, the residue that stays on your pillow can even make you sick. Keep makeup removing wipes next to your bed so you'll be reminded nightly to remove your harmful makeup.

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Drinking Coffee

Caffeine is a major culprit when it comes to dry skin and the magnification of wrinkles. Quench skin by drinking lots of water. Add fruit slices like orange or lemon to enhance the flavor.

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Popping Pimples

Picking at the skin on your face will only push dirt and bacteria deeper into pores, resulting in more breakouts.

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Skipping Meals

Skipping meals can cause skin to age faster and dry out more quickly. Always try to include vitamins C (oranges), B3 (peanuts), E (avocados), and A (sweet potatoes) in your meals to build up your skin's health.

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Long, Hot Showers

While the occasional steamy shower is great, it actually strips away the outermost layer of the epidermis, which can cause scaly and dry skin. When your skin starts to turn red and itch in the shower, you know its time to step out.

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Testing Too Many Products

To avoid a skin nightmare, always test new products — cosmetics, lotions, and cleansers — on a small patch of skin. Choose somewhere on your arm to avoid an unexpected allergic reaction on your face.

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Not Drinking Enough Water

Hydrating yourself daily will not only help to fight off aging, but also give your skin a healthy glow. Skip the water and you'll be stuck with rough and 'shrunken' skin.

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Talking on the Phone

Hours spent talking on your cell phone can lead to breakouts and rashes along your jawline and cheek. Make sure to keep antibacterial wipes with you to keep your phone (and skin!) clean.

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Getting Hair Products on Your Face

Next time you apply hairspray, use a clean towel to cover your face to protect your skin. Also, make sure to always use a sweatband when you hit the gym so no hair products drip onto your face when you begin to sweat.

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Wearing Dirty Sunglasses

Like your regular lenses, don't forget to wipe your sunglasses clean. Bacteria that builds up on your glasses can get into the pores around the bridge of your nose, causing breakouts and irritation.

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Yo-Yo Dieting

Constant yo-yo dieting can negatively impact your skin: Frequent weight gain and loss can cause the fibers in your skin to loosen over time, creating stretch marks and sag.

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Not Enough Sleep

Getting the recommended eight hours of sleep a night will not only help you look refreshed, but it will also replenish and rehydrate skin. Not getting a good night's sleep can result in dull skin and clogged pores.

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Eating Too Much Sodium

Excess sodium in your diet can suck the moisture out of skin, leaving it dry and dull. To avoid this, cut back on salty treats and invest in a hydrating facial moisturizer.

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Squinting Your Eyes

Skip your annual optometrist appointment? It's time to pencil it into your calendar. Wearing outdated contacts and glasses will cause you to squint more, and in turn, lead to fine lines and wrinkles around your eyes. To avoid unnecessary aging, make sure you visit your eye doctor at least once a year.

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Waxing Too Often

Resist running to your waxer at the first sight of new hairs. Too much waxing can result in raw skin and increased bumps. Give your skin at least three weeks to regenerate, especially in sensitive areas.

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Chemicals in the Water

The heat from prolonged showers can lead to dry skin, but so can your shower head. With all the purifying agents used to filter public water, chemical build up on skin over time is very common. Invest in a shower head filter to fight off dry skin caused by chlorine and other elements.

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Not Remembering Your Lips

Three-to-five cellular layers of skin rest upon your lips, so it's important that your beauty regime includes them too. Frequently having dry, chapped lips causes them to age faster. Look for lipsticks and lip balm that contain petrolatum, dimethicone, and glycerine to help keep your smackers hydrated.

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Dirty Pillowcases

At night your skin gets a chance to rest and shed its dead cells. Those dead cells can build up over time on your pillowcase, leaving behind bacteria and toxins. In order to keep skin healthy, make sure you change your pillowcase at least once every two weeks.

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Exfoliating Too Often

Over-exfoliating your skin can strip it of its necessary oils it needs to maintain your natural glow. Exfoliate your skin just once a week to keep it healthy.

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Frowning

Constant movements of the muscles from facial expressions can lead to frown lines. To give your skin a rest, try avoiding scrunching and pouting of the face, which will cause permanent wrinkles and lines in your skin.

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Stress

Consider stress the heavyweight knockout when it comes to your skin. Not only can it cause blemishes, dullness, and rashes, but stress lines from facial movements will also ingrain in your skin over time. To avoid stress, take time to do something you enjoy like yoga, reading, or cooking.

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Overdoing the Sugar

When you consume too much sugar, it hurts the collagen nestled in your skin, leaving you with sag. Fight your sweet tooth with organic fruits like pineapple or mango.

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Not Enough Exercise

Exercise helps increase blood flow and gives your face a healthy glow. In addition, it also cleans the body of toxins, which are expelled during perspiration, and cleanses dead skins cells allowing new ones to grow. Without regular exercise you may see an increase in age spots.

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The Plastic on Your Dry-Cleaned Clothes

To avoid skin irritation, take the plastic off your dry cleaning as soon as you get home, allowing the clothes to breath. The longer the plastic stays on your threads, the more skin-harming chemicals that are absorbed.

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Forgetting Your Left Arm

Since your left arm is exposed to more sun when driving, make sure to lather up with extra sunblock on that side. The same rules apply to those who are riding in the passenger seat with their right arm exposed.

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Drinking Too Much Alcohol

Wine, beer, and liquor can dehydrate your skin, leaving it quenched for moisture. Without that moisture, you are more prone to wrinkles and dryness.

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A Stay in the Sauna

Keep your sauna and steam room usage to a minimum. These spa treats can cause sagging (as they break down elasticity and natural collagen in the skin) over time.

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Too Much AC

Instead of cranking up the cool air, turn your air conditioner down to give your skin extra moisture. If your cooling unit is always on full speed, you're stripping the air of humidity and moisture your skin needs.

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Secondhand Smoke

Even if you don't smoke, being around smokers can cause skin to sag and can speed up the wrinkle process.

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